Lily, Did You Know?
by Light Avatar
Summary: Oneshot. Did Lily Potter know what her baby boy would grow up to do?


**Disclaimer: **I'm afraid that my limited brain capacity would never allow me to produce such a wonderful concept as Harry Potter, nor would my finances allow me to buy him. Therefore, I regretfully state that I own neither Harry Potter, nor any other characters that you may recognize. I'm not even sure if I own the plot.

**Note: **I'm assuming that you already know the basic story of Harry Potter from books 1 through 5.

'_Italics'_ stand for thoughts/letters or text

**Author's Note:** I was just listening to the song "Mary Did You Know" and I thought of this; I figured it would be fitting for Christmas. Hope you enjoy!

All of Harry, Ron, and Hermione's spoken words (from the troll scene) are taken directly from _Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone_ by J.K. Rowling, pages 174-176 of the American paperback edition.

Lily, Did You Know?

It was late at Godric's Hollow when Lily Potter awoke and got out of bed. Being careful not to awaken her husband, she picked up her wand and a book from the nightstand. Then she went into the next room, where her one-year-old son was sleeping, and quietly scooped him up.

Little Harry stirred slightly in his mother's arms, but made no sound as she carried him downstairs into the living room. There, Lily lit a fire with her wand and sat down on the couch, looking down at her firstborn. Soft black curls, already quite unmanageable, spilled across his forehead, brushing closed eyelids that hid adorable emerald green eyes. While he was a cute child, there was nothing remarkable about his appearance.

However, Lily had the feeling that he was more than he seemed, that one day, he would be great. That feeling had only intensified after Professor Dumbledore told her of the Prophecy. Now, she was preparing to use a spell she had found in the Potter's family library. It was ancient, but said to have been discovered by Merlin himself.

Lily opened the book and glanced at the page again, making sure that she was doing everything right. The text read:

'_The Greatness Charm_

_Classification: Divination_

_Incantation: _Videre magnus res

Warning Level: Medium 

_Creator: Believed to be Merlin_

Use: This charm is generally used to determine whether or not someone has the potential to become great. It will show the caster all the great things that the subject will do.

_Instructions: Recite the incantation while pointing your wand at the person whose greatness you wish to test. The subject should be unconscious or asleep for best results. The duration of the charm depends of how great the person will be; it could last anywhere from ten minutes to three hours._

_Notes: 1) The charm will work best if cast by a family member or someone close to the subject. 2) The charm will only show those great things that the caster will not witness or learn of in his/her lifetime. 3) The caster will fall unconscious during the spell. It is advised that the caster find a place to recline beforehand.'_

Taking a deep breath, Lily raised her wand, pointed it at Harry, and whispered, "_Videre magnus res!_" Instantly, a golden haze swirled over her emerald eyes, and she slumped against the couch.

…………

The first thing Lily saw was Harry's nursery. However, the second thing she saw was _herself_, lying on the floor, obviously dead. Her killer stood over her, wand still raised as he laughed a loud and terrible laugh. It was Voldemort.

Lily was horrified, realizing that the Dark Lord was about to murder Harry as well, but to her surprise, her son didn't look at all afraid. Instead, he wore an oddly brave expression.

"_Avada Kedavra!_" Voldemort cried — but a glowing shield appeared out of nowhere, and the curse rebounded on its caster.

'_Did Harry just survive the Killing Curse?'_ Lily wondered in amazement, staring at the jagged cut on Harry's forehead. She wanted nothing more than to reach out and cradle him; however, the charm was tugging her away.

Next, she saw a vision of two boys racing down a corridor in what appeared to be Hogwarts. Both wore student uniforms, with a Gryffindor badge, and their faces were flushed from running. As she watched, they paused and looked around.

A low grunting and thudding sound was heard, and Lily suddenly saw why the two had stopped: a large troll was trudging along the hallway. It stopped outside of a door, looked in, then entered.

"The key's in the lock," one of the boys noticed. "We could lock it in."

"Good idea," his companion agreed. They began to inch towards the door cautiously.

At this point, Lily got a good look at their faces. She was pretty sure that one of them was her son, and she was right; it was the boy who had spoken first. The other lad was taller, with bright red hair and freckles.

'_Probably a Weasley,'_ Lily thought to herself. Her heart jumped into her throat as the students slammed the door shut and turned the lock. Harry and his friend then turned and retraced their steps, obviously going for help, but before they had reached the corner, a shrill scream echoed off the walls.

"Oh no!" the redheaded boy whispered.

"It's the girls' bathroom!" Harry cried in alarm.

"Hermione!" they chorused together.

Lily's face drained of color as she watched them hurry back to the door, unlock it, and run inside. To her mild surprise, the scene around her shifted so that she could see what was happening. Inside the bathroom, a witch with long bushy brown hair was huddled in the corner, clearly trying to get away from the troll.

"Confuse it!" Harry ordered, picking up a piece of the sink that had been knocked off the wall and throwing it at the troll.

"Oy, peabrain!" the other boy shouted, doing the same.

While the troll looked around distractedly, Harry rushed to the girl, whom Lily presumed was Hermione. "Come on, run, run!" he urged, trying to drag her away. Unfortunately, she seemed to be frozen in fear.

By now, the troll was extremely confused. After glancing around, he started towards the redheaded boy, who was closest. Obviously worried for his friend, Harry did something that made Lily gasp in horror. He ran up behind the troll, leapt, and managed to grab on to its neck. In the process, his wand flew out of his hand and up the troll's nose, enraging it further.

The Weasley boy grabbed his own wand and pointed it desperately as the troll flailed about, Harry hanging on for dear life. "_Wingardium Leviosa!_"

Either by a twist of fate or sheer luck, it did the trick; the spell hit the troll's club, making it rise into the air and hover above its owner's head. When the boy lifted the spell, the club fell onto the troll's head, and it collapsed.

"Is it — dead?" Hermione ventured after a moment.

"I don't think so," Harry concluded, eying the creature warily. "I think it's just been knocked out."

Lily wanted to stay and see what else would happen, but her charm was pulling her away to view something else. Slowly, the scene faded, and another took its place.

Astonished and shocked, Lily watched as her son faced down a possessed DADA professor, and came face to face with Voldemort himself. Then the vision flashed to his second year, when he killed a basilisk, his third year, when he held off a horde of dementors and saved Sirius' life (she still didn't understand exactly why Sirius was on the run), and his fourth year, when he competed in the Triwizard Tournament. The sight of her ghost coming out of the joined wands made Lily slightly queasy.

After that came his fifth year, when Sirius died and Harry faced Voldemort for the fifth time (well, sixth if you count the time in the Forbidden Forest, but Lily hadn't seen that). Following that came his sixth year, when Dumbledore died, and then the summer after that, when Voldemort captured Harry, but he managed to escape.

Yet even after this, it was the tenth vision, the seventh time Harry met Voldemort, that truly terrified Lily to the point that she thought she would have a heart attack.

Her son was standing on the plain just outside of Hogwarts, alone, his wand clenched tightly in one hand, and a gleaming golden sword set with rubies in the other. At first glance, it appeared to be quite ordinary, but a closer look revealed the words _'Godric Gryffindor'_ engraved onto the blade.

"So, Potter, ready to die?" Voldemort yelled confidently.

"You say that every time," Harry retorted, "and I'm still standing here."

Although neither spoke, they raised their wands at the same moment and sent off a series of spells…and the duel began. For several long minutes, they shot curses back and forth, until slowly, little by little, Voldemort began to get the upper hand.

And then, just as Lily was certain Harry would die, her son dodged a stray hex, ran straight up to the startled Dark Lord, and plunged his sword into the wizard's chest. It seemed almost laughably simple, that Voldemort should die from Muggle weapon.

"I've done it," Harry gasped, drawing the sword back out. "Mum, Dad, Cedric, Sirius, Dumbledore…you are avenged."

Shocked and elated, Lily reached out towards Harry, trying to touch him, but her hand went right through him. "Harry!" she called, overwhelmed by the need to hug him. He lifted his head, frowning, and she almost thought he had heard her; then, magic whisked her away again.

…………

Lily opened her eyes and found herself still in her living room. Remembering what she had seen, she hugged her son closer, making him fidget uncomfortably.

"Oh, Harry," she whispered softly. "You'll be the savior of the Wizarding World one day…but you'll always be my baby boy."


End file.
